Bibliographic/FAQ

How do I add a reference/bibliographic table to list my citations?

To insert a reference/bibliographic table use the Menu sequence -

Insert->Indexes and Tables->Indexes and Tables->Tab=Indexes/tables;Type=Bibliography

You can customise the reference list to (possibly most of) your style requirements using the configuration panel from the menu sequence -

Insert->Indexes and Tables->Indexes and Tables->Type=Bibliography;Tab=Entries

After you have done this - some more advise on preserving you settings.

How do I use a text Bibliographic Database?

Note: These instruction are for OpenOffice version 2.x.

Note: To use a text Comma Separated Value (.csv) file as a bibliographic database you MUST have exactly the same number of fields and field names as the original biblo db. Also the Field Delimiter needs to be semi-colon ';'. To use a CSV:

1. Name the file 'biblio.csv'
2. Now you now need to make the biblio.csv the OOo Bibliography DB.
3. Go to Tools->Options-OpenOffice.org Base->Databases.
4. Edit the 'Bibliography' database entry, and change the name from 'Bibliography' to 'Bibliography-org'
5. Now install the new Database File->New->Database->'Connect to an Existing database';Option=Text.
6. Select the path to your biblio.csv file, select the 'Comma Separated Value' CSV file option. Then select Finish. When prompted with the save option enter 'Bibliography'
7. Now try Tools->Bibliography Database - your biblio.csv data should be visible.

Note: the text / csv database is read only to OpenOffice. To make any changes and you need to do edit text file again and reload the Bibliography database - F4 select the table biblio (the data shows) select refresh or rebuild from the icons above the bib data.

How to Use MYSQL as the bibliographic database

Note: These instruction are for OOo version 1.x I will rewrite them for version 2 soon.

Note: my system is Linux so there may be differences to windows.

This method of moving the bibliographic database should work for Postgress or other ODBC databases.

I have installed MYSQL and created a database called 'test' I have also installed the MYSQL-Cc Database administration tool and checked that the database is working, created a test table, set access permissions, etc.

I downloaded the latest JDBC driver MYSQL-connector-java-3.X.X I needed to add it to the OOo classpath: Tools>Options>Security and add the file path/MYSQL-connector-java-3.X.X-stable.bin.jar (path=where ever you put it.)

Open the Data Source panel F4 or View> 'Data Sources'. In the Data Source explorer (the window with Bibliography Links, Queries, Tables) get the context menu - Right-click and select Data Source Administration

In the 'General' tab enter a new data source name eg 'test' In the Data Source Administration Database type MYSQL Select Use Connector/J3 In the MYSQL tab URL = sdbc.mysql.jdbc localhost:3306/test (test= your database name) User = dnw (your db user name) Password Required = Yes (depends on how you set up DB access permissions) Select Tables TAB (if you have created any tables in the database you should seem them listed) The MYSQL tables were then visible in the Data Source panel by clicking on the + sign of the tables entry.

I renamed the Bibliography data source 'Bibliography-old' I renamed the 'test' MYSQL data source 'Bibliography' I dragged the original bibliographic table - biblio table into the MYSQL data source

The copy table panel appears - Selected options - 'data and definition' and 'create primary key' This built the biblio table in MYSQL.

Right-click on the new MYSQL biblio database and select the EDIT TABLE option Select Tools>Index design, create a unique index for Identifier, (OOo gets confused if you have two references with the same Identifier)

Using MYSQL-Cc I also set the table to Ordered By > Identifier, this sorts the table by identifier, making it easier to use the OOo Entry Bibliographic pick list. I also set to OFF the ALLOW NULL settings for ID, Identifier, and Type as you never want these empty for a real bibliographic entry.

Still using MYSQL-Cc (or OOo Edit Table) You can fix some other problems - the MYSQL VARCHAR field type is 254 characters long. You can change Title, Authors, URL, note, annotate etc to type TEXT for unlimited field size.

How to Increase the Bibliographic Database Field Sizes

Users of the OpenOffice Bibliographic functions may have come across a limitation on the database field size. The user can increase the field size themselves. Also adding indexes can prevent other problems.

See the document HOWTO-increaseFieldSizes-V2.odt with screen images for step by step instructions.

Changes to the bibliographic database are not updated in the document.

This issue is often reported as a bug. However it is design limitation of the current bibliographic facilities, so it is not a bug or defect. Each time you insert a bibliographic entry into a document the bibliographic data (Author name, date publisher etc.) is copied from the database into the bibliographic entry fields. This is the case even for multiple entries of the same citation. No connection is maintained between the citation data in the document and the original database references or between citations to the same reference, in the same document. For a workaround to this issue see - How do I correct the citations in my document. A solution is proposed in our bibliographic project plans.

How do I link with wikindx?

Answer I asked a question about this at the wikindx forum, see the reply David Wilson

I should add that WIKINDX has an integrated WYSIWYG word processor that allows you to import citations and quotations etc. direct from the database into your article. Citations are automatically formatted according to the chosen style and you can export the article with appended bibliography to Rich Text Format which can then be opened in OpenOffice.org. Mark Grimshaw

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Add a FAQ here or just ask a question on the discussion page. David Wilson